Annus horribilis.

Some of the most poisonous people come disguised as friends & family.

Families are families.  Even the Queen gets this.  Some years are just horrendous.  Last year was our annus horribilis.

It shouldn't have been.  The man was returning to school for the first time in 50 years for his bible credentials & I was looking forward to some quiet time with just me, the cats, the view. Prayer, bible reading, a little gardening.  Well, you know, the best laid plans of mice & men...

Firstly, the year before, the Man's father died quite suddenly.  As he wasn't a nice man & had told different sections of the family different things about his illness we had no idea he was as sick as he was. He is not missed ~ & that is a terribly sad condemnation.

The Man's mother hadn't been well to start with.  The stress of family squabbling & her own health issues put her over the edge & she became very ill. We took on the burden of caring for her.  I did the day shift while the Man was in school; he did nights...& we could have continued indefinitely.  She was right next door.  We used to be a household of 7 so washing & cooking for one extra person was no big deal. We had health services lined up.  Her Dr was happy with our care of her but ~  the family was not. It was very stressful.

I won't go into the details.  It got very ugly & there was nothing we could do to help & in the end they were able to force her into a nursing home. She barely lasted 6 months.  The grieving process has been difficult but we have been using our share of the inheritance to finish the home that ground to a halt when my man broke his back  & could no longer work. We think it honours his mother because she would so have enjoyed things like the chooks & the sandstone, being a Sydney woman herself.

Rain has halted work on this project temporarily but you can see how it will be. The girls were fascinated & my lads, who laid it, could not believe the running commentary from the chook pen!